Juniper 2015 predictions

Russell Skingsley of Juniper Networks APAC predicts some significant IT trends in 2015, including predictions in the cloud, channel and security space.

This vendor-written piece has been edited by Executive Networks Media to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favour the submitter's approach.

Content delivery disrupts cable providers

With the exception of the switch to digital several years ago, the cable industry has largely remained the same for several years. But 2015 will be the year of change. While Asia Pacific countries are the top nations for online video consumption, the region's consumers are increasingly watching video content online through their mobile devices, according to the European Travel Commission. Empowered by their devices, consumers in the region want more control and choice in the way they view content. As a result, they are increasingly sourcing for online-delivered content. For instance, research firm Nielsen reported that more than six in 10 digital consumers in Southeast Asia report watching TV content and movies via online sources such as video-on-demand, with the penetration of internet TV highest in Thailand (76 percent) and the Philippines (71 percent). To stay competitive, we anticipate 2015 being the year that cable companies make their bets on virtualized networks to ensure their infrastructure is agile enough to deliver content related services when and where they are required according to the demands of on demand delivery.

Product co-creation comes to networking: new ideas require new thinking

For as long as networks have been around, the development and sale of networking products have been more or less a one-way street; equipment vendors develop products - routers, switches, etc. - and sell them to enterprises and service providers. This will change in 2015. More enterprises and service providers will become more vocal about the features and prices of the products they buy for their networks. For example, the India Excellence Center (IEC), Juniper Network's biggest R&D unit outside of the US, works on joint development projects with industry partners including Ericsson and is responsible for some of Juniper's biggest breakthrough products.

Big data and networks: opportunity or catastrophe?

The Big Data technology and services market in the Asia Pacific will be worth some US$2 billion by 2017 up from just US$548 million in 2012, according to IDC. As the tentacles (read: devices) of the so-called Internet of Things continues reaching into new parts of our lives, there will simply be a lot more data generated. For example, even the simplest connection between phone and home security systems will generate data that needs to be stored somewhere. What this will bring in 2015 is threefold: A newfound need to analyze this data, the required network infrastructure to make sense of it all and security technologies to secure it. Demand for data scientists will reach fever pitch as service providers and enterprises rethink the way they build networks to handle the onslaught of data.